Welcome to the Jungle
by Li'lDixonDarlin
Summary: Daryl and Merle Dixon, along with two women they've known since they were younger are with the group at the quarry. When they decide to go into Atlanta, one friend stays behind at the camp while the other goes with the group. When Merle gets left on the roof, the group notice that they're one person short but can't go back for them. Read to find out what happens!
1. Rooftops

I don't own anyone in the Walking Dead except for my OCs.

This story is gonna be a Daryl/OC and Merle/OC story. It's gonna sorta follow the series but I'm not leavin Merle on the rooftop in Atlanta. You'll have to wait and see where I take it ;D

* * *

Rick Grimes followed behind Glenn, the man who saved him, and was caught off guard when a blonde woman pulled a pistol out and pointed it at his face.

"We're dead because of you!" the blonde spat.

"Andrea, calm down." the Mexican man said. Andrea finally calmed down and walked away from him. Glenn stared to say something when gunshots were heard.

"Aw man, is that Dixon?!" the broad shouldered black man groaned. The group glanced at each other then rushed to get to the rooftop. Once they were on the roof, they were shocked when they saw Merle Dixon standing on the edge of the roof, shooting at the walkers on the ground below.

"Hey! Dixon, are you crazy!? You're gonna attract them to us!" Morales called. Merle stopped shooting and turned slightly.

"You should have more respect for a man with a gun! Hell, common sense too." Merle mused, hopping down from the ledge. Glenn glanced over at the auburn haired, tiger-green eyed woman who was sitting on the ledge, her arms crossed over her chest and her ankles crossed, one over the other.

"Jess, why didn't you try to stop him?" Glenn asked. The woman shrugged her shoulders then pushed her hair from her face.

"He's my friend. I have no power over what he does." the woman said. Andrea scoffed and marched over to the other woman.

"So you're saying you'd let him kill us?" Andrea sneered.

"Cool it sugar tits. Leave her be." Merle said. Andrea gave Merle a disgusted look and stalked away from them.

"Hey man, why don't you just cool it?" the black man said.

"T-Dog..." the auburn haired woman started, knowing Merle would say something back and possibly start a fight.

"That'll be the day." Merle scoffed.

"You got somethin to say to me? Just say it!" T-Dog said.

"You wanna hear what I gotta say, huh?" Merle said.

"Yeah!" T-Dog said.

"That'll be the day I take orders from a nigger!" Merle spat. T-Dog lunged at Merle but Merle was quick on the draw and nailed T-Dog in the face with the butt of the rifle then he sat on T-Dog's mid-section with his pistol drawn, after dropping the rifle then he spat on T-Dog and rubbed the spit into his shirt. The auburn haired woman went to tackle Merle but Rick beat her to it. Rick wrestled him to the ground, placed one cuff on his wrist then attached the other to a metal pole. He pulled his pistol from the waistband of his jeans and pointed it at Merle's head.

"Just who the hell are you?" Merle rasped.

"Officer Friendly." Rick said coolly. Rick stood up and turned away from Merle and his gaze landed on the auburn haired woman, who looked highly agitated if not pissed off at her friend being cuffed. Rick approached her and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Rick Grimes." Rick said. The woman's green eyes flickered towards his hand then up to his blue eyes before she hesitantly grasped his hand.

"Jessica McKinley." Jessica said, giving his hand a firm shake before releasing it quickly. Rick nodded his head then glanced around at the others.

"Morales." Morales said.

"I'm Jacqui." Jacqui replied.

"T-Dog." T-Dog greeted. Rick nodded his head then wiped sweat from his brow before strolling over to Glenn to talk to him.

*Jessica's POV*

I glared at Rick's retreating back then made my way over to Merle and sat on the pipe near his head and listened as he tried to sweet talk Andrea into uncuffing him.

"What do you say sugar tits? Let me go and we'll go somewhere secluded and bump uglies." Merle suggested. I snorted at his choice of words and his steele blue eyes drifted towards me for a moment then went back to Andrea.

"No thanks." Andrea said before pushing herself to her feet and walking away.

"Rug muncher. I thought as much." Merle muttered. I snickered at his comment and he smirked at my reaction and since I was in reach he pat my knee with his left hand then kept his hand there, tapping a rhythm out with his fingers.

"Ya bored there Merle?" I questioned.

"Mhm." Merle hummed. I glanced around, noticing that only myself, Merle, T-Dog and Andrea were on the roof and that Rick, Jacqui, Morales and Glenn were missing. My gaze shifted over to T-Dog, who was trying to get the people at the quarry on the CB radio.

"Anybody out there? Hello? Anybody read? I'm hopin to hear somebody's voice 'cause I'm sick and tired of hearin mine." T-Dog said.

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us. Three if ya count Jessie Mac. Why don't ya knock that crap off. You're givin me a headache, boy." Merle said.

"Why don't you pull your head out of your ass? Maybe your headache will go away. Try some positivity for a change. Damn." T-Dog said. Merle shifted his wrist around, mumbling about wanting the cuff off and T-Dog smirked, reaching in his pocket and showed Merle that he had the key to the handcuffs.


	2. Victimized

***Rick's POV***

Jacqui, Glenn, Morales and I ran back towards the roof since the geeks had burst through the glass on the doors, heading for us since we were fresh meat. We flew through the door to the roof and rushed around to get the tools and other things together.

"Let's go!" I shouted.

"Hey, hey, hey! You can't just leave me here man!" Merle shouted. T-Dog fished the key from his pocket and started towards Merle when he tripped and the key went flying. Both men tried to reach for it but it was no use, the key fell down a drain on the roof.

"No, no, no! You did that on purpose!" Merle shouted.

"No I didn't! It was an accident!" T-Dog said.

"Come on!" I called. T-Dog scrambled, gathering the stuff on the rooftop, following right behind me.

"Hey! C'mon man, you can't leave me! Please!" Merle shouted.

*No one's POV*

T-Dog shot Merle an apologetic look and rushed through the doors, Merle's shouts and pleas echoing. The others had rushed on down ahead and T-Dog paused, shouting for the others to hold on a minute then looped a chain through the door handles then locked it before grabbing the bags and running out to the van and jumping in. Rick quickly drove off and everyone in the van sighed in relief. Glenn shot past them in a cherry red Dodge Challenger, whooping and cheering, causing Morales to chuckle.

"At least someone's havin a good time." Morales said.

"Hey, um...guys?" T-Dog said after moments of silence.

"What?" Rick said.

"We forgot Jess!" Jacqui said. Morales's eyes went wide and he swallowed then started swearing under his breath in Spanish.

"Oh man...Leo's gonna be so pissed." T-Dog groaned.

*Jessica's POV*

Once the others were gone I sat still for a moment, listening to Merle plead to Jesus that he get loose some way. I stood up from my hiding spot and darted over to Merle who gave a startled cry when he saw me.

"Jessie Mac?! The hell are ya doin here?! I thought ya woulda hauled ass with the others." Merle said. I gave Merle a glare then flicked the tip of his nose, earning a scowl in response.

"Daryl would kill me if I left yer crazy ass. Now shut ya yap and hold still." I said.

"How the hell are ya gonna get me loose? The key's lost." Merle stated. I reached into my auburn hair then smirked, showing Merle the paper clip that I was using as a hair clip.

"I've always got one of these on hand." I said, unbending part of the neon blue paper clip. Merle chuckled slightly, shaking his head at my odd habit.

"Well, thank the Lord for yer crazy ass habit." Merle chuckled. I chuckled lowly and stuck the paper clip in the key spot and started wiggling the paper clip around. After several minutes, a light click was heard then the cuff came loose so Merle pulled it open then started rubbing his right wrist in relief.

"Now you're free so..." I trailed off.

"We can't go runnin 'round cause of all the damn walkers runnin 'round. We gotta stick around up here for a bit and come up with a plan." Merle said. I nodded my head in agreement then walked over to where I hid my backpack then grabbed it and walked back over to Merle.

"I've got some food and a couple bottles of water in here. We gotta carefully ration the food and hope like hell that they'll come back for us." I said.

"Oh they better. If I know Darylina and Leo, if we ain't there then they'll flip their shit and demand that they be told where the hell we are so they can come get us themselves." Merle chuckled.


	3. Rise Today

**I only own my OCs. In this chapter, you finally find out who 'Leo' is.**

* * *

***Rick's POV***

Once we reached the quarry I sat in the van as the others got out and went to greet their family and friends and thought to myself.

"Hey helicopter boy! Come out and meet everyone!" Morales called. I chuckled dryly at the nickname but got out of the van nonetheless. I closed the door then glanced around at everyone there then I locked eyes with someone I never thought I'd see here; my friend Shane Walsh. We stared at each other for a moment then a voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"Dad?" a small voice said. I shifted my gaze from Shane and saw two people I'd never see again ever since I woke up in the hospital; my son Carl and my wife Lori. I let out a shaky breath and took a step forward.

"Dad!" Carl shouted. I walked forward and that set him into motion, running as fast as he could go. I dropped down to my knees and held my arms open so Carl ran into my arms so I locked them around him in a tight hug. I glanced at Lori, who looked shocked to see me then she ran over and hugged me and Carl. I hugged my wife and son close, glad I could hold them close and see them when I thought I never would.

"So when Daryl and Leo get back, what're we gonna tell 'em?" T-Dog mumbled to Morales. I felt my heart sink at that one; I didn't know either person but I had a feeling that both of them would be pissed off beyond all belief when they didn't see Merle or Jessica.

"You lot are gonna be in for some hell." Shane said.

***Merle's POV***

Jessica and I cleared out the maintenance room that was on the roof since it had several walkers and we decided to hole up in there so we wouldn't go crazy from being out in the sunlight and so we could have a somewhat comfortable place to sleep.

"I still can't believe those sons of bitches left us here." I grumbled. Jessica snorted then pushed her auburn hair from her face.

"I hid up top so they couldn't see me. I couldn't stand the fact that they were wantin to leave ya. And when T-Dog dropped that key down the drain? That's when I knew I couldn't leave with 'em. I had to stay and free your crazy ass or Daryl would tear into me and Leo would practically chew me up and spit me out." Jessica said. I looked at her at her last comment; what did she mean Leo would practically chew her up and spit her out.

"Whatcha mean? I mean...what do ya mean by Leo would chew ya up and spit ya out?" I questioned, my curiosity gettin the better of me. Jessica glanced at me, one eyebrow quirked.

"You honestly mean to tell me that you haven't noticed how Leo looks at ya?" Jessica asked and I shook my head.

***No One's POV***

Back at the camp, it was daylight and people were slowly waking up and moving around the campsite. They were all wondering what to tell Daryl and Leo about Jessica and Merle and how they'd react and take it.

"The best thing you can do is hope they're in a good mood. If not? Well...you'd better brace yourselves." Dale Horvath had said the night before. Rick had been thinking to himself, wondering how he would break the news to Daryl Dixon and this Leo Lewis about leaving behind Merle and Jessica. All of the sudden, the children screamed which caused the men to go into action, running towards the woods as the women took care of the children. When they got to the edge of the woods, they saw a walker gnawing on a deer that was on the ground. The men took turns, beating the walker down when Dale stepped forward and cut its head off. Everyone sighed in relief when the bushes rustled and a twig snapped, causing them to stand at attention, ready to face off against another walker. Moments later Daryl Dixon stepped out of the woods, followed by a woman with ebony black hair wearing a black tank top, cargo pants, and camouflage boots.

"That's my deer! Leo and I have been trackin it for miles! Look at it. All gnawed on by this... filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl said, kicking the walker's body with each insult.

"Calm down now son, that won't do any good." Dale said, trying to reason with Daryl.

"What d'ya know about it old man? You take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'." Daryl snapped. The woman beside him snorted, trying to keep her laughter in and Daryl's lips twitched a bit before he crouched down near the downed deer.

"Take this back to camp and cook up some venison. Think we could cut around this chewed up part?" Daryl said, glancing up.

"I wouldn't risk it." Shane said.

"That's a damn shame. Well, Leo and I got some squirrels. 'Bout a dozen or so." Daryl said. About that time, the walker's head opened its eyes and started growling and hissing. Amy walked away because she was about to be sick and everyone else, with the exception of Daryl and the woman, jumped.

"Come on people," Daryl said shooting the walker in the eye, "it's gotta be the brain! Don't y'all know nothin?" he retrieved his bolt from the walker's head then stuck it with his others. He headed towards camp with the woman following behind him and the others suddenly got worried.

"Hey, Jess! Get your lanky ass out here!" the woman shouted.

"Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel!" Daryl shouted. The pair started walking around so Shane decided to take some action.

"Hey uh Daryl, hold up a sec, I need to talk to you." Shane said as the group gathered round.

"Bout what?" Daryl grunted.

"Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said. Daryl froze before turning and walking back a bit, looking around at the group.

"He dead?" Daryl asked, catching the black haired woman's attention.

"Not sure..." Shane sighed.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl snapped. Rick saw that Shane was getting nowhere so he decided to step up to the plate.

"There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it." Rick said. Daryl's eyes narrowed and he got defensive, eyeing Rick carefully.

"Who're you?" Daryl asked gruffly.

"Rick Grimes." Rick stated.

"Rick Grimes...you got somethin you wanna tell me?" Daryl growled.

"Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him to the roof, hooked to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick said. Daryl's eyes narrowed dangerously and the woman was now at Daryl's side, her ice blue eyes narrowed in anger and her jaw was locked.

"You did what?!" the woman snapped. Daryl turned to the woman and wiped at his eyes then started pacing around.

"Lemme process this...you're sayin you handcuffed my brother to a roof...and you left him there?!" Daryl exclaimed.

"That doesn't account for where the fuck Jess is!" the woman hissed. Rick turned to her and swallowed.

"She got left behind. I'm assuming she stayed behind to save Merle's ass." Rick said. Right after Rick finished speaking, Daryl slung his squirrels at Rick and went to lunge at him Rick dodged and Daryl fell. He reached to his hip and unsheathed his hunting knife.

"Watch the knife!" Morales warned. Rick quickly turned to deflect Daryl but Shane had already caught the redneck in a choke hold.

"Choke hold's illegal!" Daryl bit out.

"Well you can file a complaint." Shane spat.

"I was hoping we could have a nice, calm discussion. Can you handle that?" Rick asked, looking Daryl in the eye. Daryl grunted in response so Shane released him.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key, I dropped it." T-Dog said.

"Couldn't pick it up?" Daryl spat out sarcastically.

"I dropped it in a drain..." T-Dog said.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" the woman said, throwing her hands into the air. Daryl was trembling then he swept the back of his hand across his eyes.

"To hell with all y'all! Just tell Leo and I where they're at and we'll go get 'em!" Daryl said.

"He'll show you, isn't that right?" Lori said, looking directly at Rick. Rick sighed heavily then looked between the woman known as Leo and Daryl.

"I'm going back." Rick said. Lori scoffed and stormed off once her husband said that. The duo nodded their heads and started to walk off, but Rick laid a hand on the woman's shoulder, stopping her.

"Yeah?" the woman said.

"What's your name?" Rick asked.

"Leo Lewis." the woman said. Rick's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Leo?" Rick said slowly and Glenn snorted.

"Her name's Cleopatra." Glenn grinned but earned a glare from Cleopatra.

"I'm not too big on my name so I prefer to be called Leo. My mother was a hippie so she decided to name me Cleopatra." Cleopatra said.


	4. Rescue Me

**Here's the fourth installment of Welcome to the Jungle!**

* * *

***Jessica's POV***

I woke up and stretched, my joints popping and glanced to where Merle was sitting and keeping watch by looking out the window.

"Aye, Merle! Why didn't ya wake me up sooner?" I asked, pushing myself to my feet and popping my back. He glanced over his shoulder then turned his gaze back to the window.

"Figured that you'd want yer beauty sleep." Merle said. I snorted at his comment and rolled my eyes.

"You've known me for how long and still think I need this so called 'beauty sleep'?" I chuckled. Merle laughed at my response then shifted so he could still look out the window while talkin to me.

"Ya know, you and Leo are the only two gals that Darylina and I know who don't cake on enough make-up to look like a damn circus clown! Hell, I'm not even sure either of us have seen y'all wearin make-up!" Merle said. I snorted then ran a hand through my unruly hair and shrugged.

"Prolly cause we haven't really worn that much make-up! If we did, it was usually only eyeliner with a li'l bit of eyeshadow. We were never really too big on make-up." I replied. Merle nodded his head then ran a hand down his face then glanced back out the window.

"There's a lotta geeks out there...if they don't come back for us, we'll have to haul ass outta here and see if we can't make our way through 'em." Merle said. I walked over to the window and looked out, seeing that he was right.

"Like you said yesterday, knowin Daryl and Leo, if they flipped their shit then there's no doubt that they're headin to come get our crazy asses." I said.

***Cleopatra's POV***

We walked into the department store where the others had been the previous day and spotted a female walker. Daryl stepped up and held up his crossbow, lining up the shot.

"You are one ugly skank." Daryl said, pulling the trigger. The bolt nailed the walker in the head, making it drop like dead weight...no pun intended. We approached the walker so Daryl placed his boot on its head, leaned down and retrieved his bolt from its skull.

"Let's go." Rick said lowly. We started heading towards the stairwell with T-Dog and Rick leading the way, Glenn behind them and us bringing up the rear.

"You'd better pray they're not dead or did somethin stupid...or I swear to everythin on God's green Earth that I'mma put a boot in your damn ass." I hissed to Rick. Rick glanced over his shoulder at me then nodded his head.

"I understand." Rick said. Once we reached the doors, T-Dog took the bolt cutters and cut the lock off the chain and pulled it out of the door handles then threw the doors open. We raced through the doors and onto the rooftop, looking around frantically for any sign of Merle and Jessica.

"Merle! Jess!" Daryl shouted.

"Aye, Merle! Jess!" I shouted. Not seeing them, Daryl and I were starting to give up hope when we heard a door creak open.

***Merle's POV***

"Hey, listen!" Jessica said, turning towards the door. I stopped talking for a minute and listened closely.

"That sounds like Darylina and Leo." I said, standing up.

"Let's go make sure we haven't gone insane and are hearin things." Jessica said. I got up and made my way to the door with Jessica following behind me. I opened the door to our hiding spot, holding my hand in front of my face due to the bright sunlight.

"Darylina? Leo?" I called, a bit unsure.

"Merle!" two voices shouted. I blinked in the bright light then shifted my hand to shield my eyes and saw Daryl and Cleopatra standing on the rooftop with the others who left us. I walked out of the room, only to be rushed by both of them.

"Alright, alright! I get that you're happy to see ole Merle but damn! I need to breathe!" I said. They turned me loose then Cleopatra punched my arm, making me scowl.

"That's for bein an idiot!" Cleopatra said.

"Where the hell's Jessie?" Daryl asked. I turned towards the door and whistled then Jessica walked out of the maintenance room.

"Well I'll be damned! We're saved." Jessica grinned.

"Alright, let's head after the guns now." Rick said. I turned towards Officer Friendly and narrowed my eyes at him. I started to say something but Cleopatra elbowed me in the ribs.

"Not a word Merle. He led us back here." Cleopatra said. I looked at her and frowned a bit then glanced at Daryl and Jessica, who were standing and talking to each other quietly.

"Let's go get the guns." Glenn said. We all nodded then Jessica and I showed the others where we had been hiding and led the way down to the alley.

***Jessica's POV***

Glenn drew a small map out in the sand and looked at each of us, one by one then let out a breath.

"Okay, here's the plan. The guns are here," Glenn pointed to where he knew the guns to be, "I'll take Jessica and Daryl with me."

"Why are ya takin us?" Daryl asked.

"Your crossbow is quieter than Rick's gun and I'm small and quick like Glenn." I said.

"Rick, you and T-Dog will go over here to this alley. Merle, you and Leo will go to the one across from them." Glenn said.

"Why so far away?" Rick asked.

"Because when Jess and I get the guns, if there are geeks headed to where Daryl is, Jess and I will run forward to either you and T-Dog or to Merle and Leo." Glenn said. Rick nodded, agreeing with the plan then Daryl looked at Glenn.

"Hey, kid...what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked.

"Delivered pizzas." Glenn said. We all looked at each other, impressed then decided to set Glenn's plan into action. Once the others were in their designated areas, we crept towards the end of the alleyway.

"You got balls for a Chinaman." Daryl said.

"Actually, I'm Korean." Glenn said, looking at Daryl.

"Whatever." Daryl said.

"Alright, you ready to do this Jess?" Glenn asked. I nodded, picking up the aluminum bat I had grabbed from the department store yesterday before Merle and I got left on the roof.

"Yeah, let's go." I said. Glenn and I took off out of the alley, ducking behind vehicles. I swung at any walker that got too close then based the head in. We finally made it to the bag of guns then quickly took off towards Daryl. We ran to where Daryl was and froze in our tracks when we saw that he was being kicked by three large Mexican men. They turned and saw us then one pointed at Glenn.

"That's the bag! That's the bag!" the one with the shaved head shouted. They ran towards us so Glenn and I tried to run off but they grabbed us.

"Daryl!" Glenn and I shouted. Daryl got to his feet and started running towards us as they ran towards the street. I heard the telltale sound of Daryl shooting his crossbow then the guy that had me in his grip screamed in pain. He reached back to see what was wrong so I shifted in his grip and bit him. He yelped again so I started struggling in his grip.

"DARYL!" I shouted. We got shoved in the van then the door was pulled shut and they started speeding away. Glenn and I stared out the window and started slamming our hands against the glass.


	5. Good Times, Bad Times

**Here's chapter 5 of Welcome to the Jungle! Sorry I updated it so late but I've been mulling over ideas for it and more info on my OCs. I don't own ****_The Walking Dead. _****I only own the characters you don't recognize.**

* * *

***Daryl's POV***

"What happened?" Rick asked once we had the kid in an abandoned building.

"I'll tell ya! This turd and his friends jumped me!" I growled.

"I jumped you?! No, you jumped me pointin that damn crossbow at me!" the kid snapped. I took a step towards the kid but Rick put his arm in front of me to prevent me from going near the little bastard. I glared at him and from the corner of my eye, I saw Merle step up and crouch down in front of him.

"Listen here ya wetback, we wanna know what the fuck you did with our friends and we wanna know now!" Merle growled. The kid rolled his eyes and spat in Merle's face and I knew that he was about to come unglued. Merle wiped his face off and let out a humorless chuckle then pulled his pistol from the waistband of his pants and pistol whipped him across the face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off right now Merle!" Rick said, turning his attention to my brother.

"Hey, this li'l piece of shit started it!" Merle snapped. Rick walked over to Merle then gave him a light shove to his shoulder, signaling for him to back off. Merle backed off but did so with a glare.

"All I was after was that bag of guns!" the kid snarled.

"You're gonna tell us where our friends are and you're gonna tell us now." Rick said, ignoring his comment.

"Or I'm gonna put a bolt in your ass!" I threatened. Rick gave me an exasperated look and the kid turned his attention to me.

"Yeah and G will take that bolt outta my ass and shove it up your ass!" the kid sneered.

"G? Who's G?" Rick asked. The kid turned his head and looked Rick in the eye.

"Guillermo." the kid said. Rick looked between all of us and smirked.

"Well let's go visit Guillermo." Rick said. We left the building and followed the kid's instructions to get to where this Guillermo was.

***Jessica's POV***

I sighed and shifted around then glanced over at Glenn, who was sitting across from me in the Old Folks home where we were brought.

"Hey, Glenn?" I said.

"Yeah?" Glenn said, turning his head to look at me.

"How long do ya think it'll take before the others come searchin for us?" I asked.

"Well, with Merle and Daryl with the others, they could be on the way now." Glenn said. I nodded my head in agreement then glanced at the occupants of the room. Guillermo is doing a really good thing in protecting everyone here, I have major respect for the man. I looked towards the door when I heard something.

"Hey Glenn, you were right! They're here!" I said.

"I don't hear anything." Glenn frowned.

"I keep forgettin that I've got good hearin from bein in the woods a lot as a kid." I said. Glenn smiled and nodded his head.

"I understand that," Glenn said, "I hear them now!" The two of us sat and talked about random things, hoping to hear the telltale signs of one of the others coming to get us. The door opened and the guys who grabbed us and brought us here grabbed us again and placed canvas bags over our heads after gagging us and dragged us from the room.

***Merle's POV***

As we stood and talked with the asshole known as Guillermo, I could tell that Daryl was getting more and more agitated, not knowing where Jessica was in the room and for not knowing whether or not she's safe or if they harmed her.

"Where the hell are our friends?" I spat out.

"I'm gonna feed 'em to my dogs! Got 'em from Satan at a garage sale! They're the meanest son of a bitches you'd ever meet." Guillermo sneered. I started to take a step forward but Officer Friendly, I mean Rick held his arm out in front of me, keeping me from doing anything. We heard movement so we looked up and saw two men holding two figures then they removed the bags and we were all shocked to see Jessica and the China Man, Glenn looking back at us, their eyes wide. Guillermo signaled for his friends to take them back away so we turned our attention back to him.

"Well? What do you say?" Guillermo said.

"Either you let them go or get nothing." Rick said.

"Go ahead. We'll do what we want with them. Especially the gorgeous woman. We can find somethin to do with her." Guillermo suggested with a smirk. I glanced at Daryl and saw his grip tighten on his crossbow and I saw his jaw clench in annoyance and anger.

"We've got guns as well." Rick said. We all looked at Guillermo and saw a red dot on him from T-Dog acting as the sniper. Guillermo followed our gazes and saw the red dot on his chest and chuckled dryly.

"Go discuss this or whatever. We'll wait." Guillermo said. Rick nodded then led us away so we could talk so I took the opportunity to walk beside Daryl and Leo.

"They'd better not hurt her." Daryl muttered under his breath. I looked at my little brother, a knowing smirk crossing my face and Leo smiled.

***No one's POV***

As the calvary walked away, Glenn and Jessica were placed back in the room they were dragged out of and the two men turned to face them.

"Sorry about all that. You two had to look frightened. We're only doin this to keep everyone here safe, ya know?" the guy Daryl shot and Jessica bit explained.

"That's understandable." Glenn said.

"I agree. Sorry about bitin ya. I just didn't expect to be grabbed up like that and drug to a vehicle." Jessica apologized.

"It's alright. I would've done the same in your situation." the man said.

"I didn't bite hard enough to break skin did I?" Jessica asked.

"Nah, just left teeth marks is all. No bleeding or broken skin." the man smiled, showing his arm to reassure her.


	6. Dying Breed

**Here's chapter 6 of Welcome to the Jungle. I don't own anyone except for Jessica and Cleopatra and the possible future OCs. Sorry I took so long for this but I've had a bit of writer's block then my flashdrive decided to act up and said it was corrupted so I had to reformat it then copy & paste my things from an older flash drive of mine which thankfully had my stories on it :D**

* * *

***No one's POV***

As Rick and the others decided on what they were going to do, Jessica and Glenn sat talking to the elderly in the room with them until the others came back for them.

"Young lady..." an elderly woman said. Jessica turned her attention to the woman then pushed herself to her feet and walked over to her before sitting down in front of her.

"Yes ma'am?" Jessica asked. The woman smiled at her then laid a gentle hand on Jessica's shoulder.

"What were you doing before all this happened, novio?" the old woman asked.

"I just did odd jobs, ma'am." Jessica replied. Before the older woman could ask more questions, one of the elderly men; Mr. Gilbert, began coughing violently so Jorge's Abuela, promptly left the room to go get help. Glenn and Jessica went over to him to see if they could help him out.

***Jessica's POV***

As Glenn and I tried to get Mr. Gilbert's breathing regulated, the door swung open and Felipe, Guillermo, Jorge and Felipe's cousin; Miguel and Miguel and Jorge's Abuela came into the room with the others behind them. They rushed over to Mr. Gilbert and our companions looked relieved to see us.

"Guillermo told us they were gonna feed you to his dogs!" T-Dog said. Glenn and I looked at one another then turned our attention to the corner of the room and they followed our gaze. Sitting in the corner of the room sat a dog bed with three Chihuahuas sitting in the bed and they barked once then stared. Merle and Daryl smirked at one another so I got to my feet and wandered over to my three friends then slapped hands with Cleopatra and hugged her briefly then yelped when she smacked my upper arm.

"The fuck was that for?!" I complained.

"That's for makin Daryl and I worry that ya got yer ass eaten by the damn walkers!" Cleopatra said.

"Well excuse me for not wantin to leave Merle behind! I don't think Daryl woulda appreciated me comin back to the camp and Merle bein left behind in the city when I coulda done somethin so I stayed behind so I could do somethin." I said.

"Yeah well, if ya hadn't stayed behind then Merle woulda done somethin incredibly stupid so...I guess thank ya." Daryl grumbled. Merle rolled his eyes and Cleopatra rolled her eyes skyward then shook her head.

"Stop bein such a damn pussy Darylina." Merle sneered. Cleopatra narrowed her eyes at Merle and drove her elbow into his rib cage. Merle growled and shot Cleopatra a look that most men would cower from but the petite woman stood her ground.

"He ain't bein a pussy if he's thankin her for savin yer dumb ass Merle." Cleopatra growled.

"Yer a fuckin bitch, ya know that right?" Merle growled.

"Tell me somethin I ain't fuckin heard before Dixon! I've heard that I'm a damn bitch most of my damn life and I will honestly admit that I can be a damn bitch but only if someone pushes the wrong damn button!" Cleopatra spat. There was a tense silence between the group and my eyes were a bit wide. I swallowed thickly and my eyes shot between the pair before I chanced a glance at Daryl, who wouldn't even lift his gaze to meet mine.

"Knock it off you two. We all need to get along here." Rick said, eyeing Merle and Cleopatra. Cleopatra shot Rick a nasty look, her top lip curled back in a sneer then she turned away from Merle then strolled over to Guillermo to talk to him for something. I rolled my eyes skyward then I turned my attention to Merle.

"Ya just had to start...didn't ya?" I sighed. Merle shot me a dirty look as a warning then started to mumble under his breath before he started to walk off, nudging Daryl to get him to follow after him.

***Daryl's POV***

Once we were a good distance away from the others, Merle started to pace back in forth in agitation then he started to fiddle with the leather bracelet he had on his left wrist before rubbing a hand over his face and swearing under his breath.

"Merle? Why the hell did ya start with Leo? Hell, as long as we've known her and Jess all you've done was agitate her a bit and let her simmer down but you pissed her the fuck off." I said. Merle stopped pacing then marched over to me and got toe to toe with me and we had a stare down.

"Ya goin soft on me li'l brotha? Ya turnin into a li'l pussy ass bitch, Darylina?" Merle sneered. I bristled at his taunting and name calling and curled my lip back in anger and annoyance.

"The fuck Merle?! All I did was ask a simple fuckin question about why you and Leo were practically about to tear each other apart! I swear, the fuckin sexual tension between the two of y'all is so fuckin thick I could cut it with my knife!" I snapped. Merle took a step back and narrowed his eyes at me and I knew his temper was slowly boiling.

"Don't you take that tone with me li'l brotha." Merle growled.

"I'm a grown man, Merle. I ain't a kid anymore." I snapped.

"Yer still my kid brother!" Merle snapped back. We stood, glaring at each other both of us waiting for the other to back down but since we're both Dixon men, neither one of us would back down easily. We heard approaching footsteps so we both broke eye contact then turned to see our group approaching us and Cleopatra quickly walked past Merle without a second glance towards him which made my brother frown.

"Alright, we're ready to head back to the camp." Rick said. I nodded at him then glanced to my left to see Jessica talking to Guillermo then she reached into her pocket and placed what looked like a rosary into his palm then she closed his fingers around it and gave him a light smile before saying something I couldn't make out. Guillermo smiled in thanks at her then gave her a quick hug before taking something from his pocket and placing it into her hand. He gave her a smile then lightly pat her shoulder and said something to her. Jessica returned his smile then started to turn around so I quickly looked away so she wouldn't notice my questioning gaze towards her.

"Let's get the hell outta here." Merle grumbled. I walked past him and elbowed him, sending my brother a warning look; knowing that he wanted to say something racist but I wasn't about to let him. He shot me a look but I ignored it and started walking towards the exit. Soon, I was joined by Jessica who slipped a necklace over her head and I realized that it must have been what Guillermo gave to her.

"Where did ya get that?" I asked, glancing at her from the corner of my eye. She turned her head slightly and touched the necklace she was wearing.

"G gave it to me since I gave him a rosary I snagged from a walker that I killed when Merle and I were still on the rooftop." Jessica said. I grunted in acknowledgment then squinted slightly once we stepped outside. Once my eyes were adjusted to the sunlight, I followed along behind Jessica and the others to the van. Everyone piled into the van so I closed the back then tapped the seat Rick was in to let him know we were all situated in the back so he headed back towards the camp.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! There's a little bit of tension goin on between Merle and Leo. Do you think the stubborn pair will forgive and forget or do you think their pride will get in the way? **

*Novio - Spanish for sweetheart.


	7. A Secret is Revealed

**Here's chapter 7 of Welcome to the Jungle!**

**Again, I only own my OCs Jessica & Cleopatra!**

* * *

***Cleopatra's POV***

Rick and T-Dog were talking as we headed back towards camp and Glenn was talking with Jessica and Daryl would toss in a comment on occasion, depending on something she would say. Merle would glance towards me every so often but I refused to meet his gaze.

_'Stupid bastard. Fuckin idiot can't even see that I carry a torch for him. Dimwitted jackass.' _I thought, picking at my fingernails.

"Y'alright there Leo?" Jessica asked. I snapped myself from my thoughts and turned my attention to Jessica, who was looking at me with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, I'm alright...why?" I said.

"Well, ya got a pissed off look on yer face." Jessica said with a shrug. I let out a sigh then rubbed my face.

"I'm havin an internal argument." I said. Jessica nodded her head then struck up a conversation with Daryl so I shifted a bit to talk to Glenn.

"So, what were ya doin when the world went to shit?" I asked. Glenn shifted so he could face me then adjusted his cap.

"Well, I was on my way to work when I noticed that people were attacking and eating other people. After seeing that, I figured that I wouldn't need to go into work and that my work place was probably hit as well so I hauled ass out of there and that's how I ended up on the highway with all the vehicles due to traffic being backed up." Glenn said.

"Well, I don't blame ya for not wantin to go into work! Yer boss or co-workers coulda tried to take a chomp out of ya." I chuckled.

"You've got that right." Glenn smiled, "so, what about you and Jess? What were you two doin?" I rubbed my mouth then ran a hand through my hair, thinking a second.

"Well, we were headin back to the cabin we were stayin in after campin out in the woods for a few days when we noticed someone was eatin a deer raw. We both thought that was fishy so we crept over to 'em and Jess noticed that their skin looked off color and that their eyes had a hazy look to 'em and when they looked up...they growled at us with blood all over their mouth and guts between their teeth." I said. Glenn made a face and shuddered a bit, weirded out from the description.

***Merle's POV***

I narrowed my eyes as Cleopatra talked to the China Man, Glenn. It's not that I was jealous or anything but I knew she was ignoring me because I pissed her off but she knows me well enough to know how I am and to know that I won't exactly give her a direct apology. I rubbed my hand over my mouth and let out a breath then turned my head when I heard a low whistle. I looked at Jessica, an eyebrow raised.

"What Jessie?" I asked in a low tone.

"Are ya fuckin stupid Merle? Do I need to spell it out for ya?" Jessica hissed in a low tone.

"The hell ya talkin 'bout Jessie Mac?" I asked. Jessica rolled her eyes and started muttering under her breath then she ran a hand down her face.

"Ya gotta be some kinda dense." Jessica muttered. I rolled my eyes then laughed when she slid towards me due to Officer Friendly making a turn.

"I might not like Officer Friendly but that was funny." I muttered.

"Ah shut up Merle. At least now I can clarify what I was talkin 'bout." Jessica mumbled.

"And what's that?" I asked lowly.

"Leo likes you ya dumbass." Jessica whispered, her hand in front of her mouth so only I could hear her. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline and I gave her a look that was borderline incredulous as well as borderline 'are you nuts'. Jessica gave me a look, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head to the side.

"Are ya nuts?" I whispered harshly.

"No but I'm startin to think I am!" Jessica whispered back. I narrowed my eyes at her and in response, she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Yer worse than a kid." I muttered. Jessica rolled her eyes at my comment then lifted her hand and shot me the bird.

"Fuck you Merle." Jessica said.

"Not in front of everyone. I ain't into that kinda shit." I replied. That comment got Cleopatra's attention and she shot me a filthy look.

"Not with me, no ya prolly ain't. But I know someone else ya might wanna get yer hands on like that." Jessica replied without missing a beat. I looked at her, my eyes wide and my eyebrows shot up and out the corner of my eye, I saw Cleopatra staring at Jessica, her jaw dropped in disbelief. Jessica shot me a smug look then moved so she was back sitting by Daryl then laid back and placed her arms under her head and closed her eyes.

"It's quiet back there...what's goin on Glenn?" Rick asked.

"I'm not sure myself!" Glenn said.

"What do ya mean Glenn?" T-Dog asked.

"Well, um...there's a stare down between Merle and Leo." Glenn supplied.

"And?" Rick said.

"And Leo looks like she's ready to throttle Jess." Glenn said.

"Yer damn right I'm ready to throttle Jess!" Cleopatra growled.

"Cool yer jets, Leo. She ain't done nothin but goof around and shoot the shit with ol' Merle." I said. Cleopatra started to edge her way towards Jessica but I grabbed her around her middle and hauled her onto my lap.

"Let fuckin go of me Merle!" Cleopatra growled.

"Ain't no use in ya tryna attack Wildcat as she's takin a nap!" I said. Cleopatra tried to weasel her way out of my grip but I kept my hold on her.

"Lemme go!" Cleopatra said. I rolled my eyes at her continuous attempts of trying to get out of my grip so I did the first thing that came to mind to make her stop; I kissed her.

* * *

**A secret was revealed! What will Cleopatra do to Jessica? What will she do to Merle for him kissing her? **


	8. About Damn Time

**Here's chapter 8 of Welcome to the Jungle. This chapter is completely in Daryl's point of view as he witnesses what happens between Merle and Cleopatra.**

* * *

***Daryl's POV***

I stared in shock as Merle kissed Cleopatra, not believing that my brother finally had the balls to kiss her. I glanced out the corner of my eye at Glenn and noticed that he was in shock as well. I reached and quickly popped Jessica's arm, causing her to quickly sit up and shoot me a dirty look for waking her from her nap.

"What the hell was that for Daryl?" Jessica hissed. I rolled my eyes at her comment then grasped her chin and turned her head. I could feel her jaw lock in annoyance but she shifted her eyes to see what I was trying to get her to look at so I released her chin.

"Holy shit. I ain't in some kinda dream world, am I?" Jessica asked.

"Hell no. If it makes ya feel any better, I didn't expect it either." I said.

"Well I'll be damned..." Jessica muttered.

"You can say that again." I mumbled.

"So, um...how long have they liked one another?" Glenn asked. Jessica and I turned our attention to Glenn then we looked at each other.

"Want me to explain it, D?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, sure." I said. Jessica nodded then crawled around me then sat and quickly slid herself towards Glenn. Once she was beside him, she turned so she could face him and started talking to Glenn in a low tone of voice. I glanced back at Merle and Cleopatra and rolled my eyes when I noticed they were still connected at the mouth.

_'Worse than a couple of horny ass teenagers.'_ I thought. I turned my attention away from them and started fiddling with my crossbow and soon, I felt the truck beginning to slow down.

"We're here!" Rick announced. I rolled my eyes at his obvious statement then got to my feet and headed towards the door. I slid it up and squinted when the light from the setting sun filtered into the back of the truck. Once my eyes were adjusted to the sunlight, I jumped down from the back of the truck and turned to head towards the camp area but I felt something slam into my back and I connected with the ground.

"Oomph!" I grunted. I threw whoever was on my back off and flipped over to see Jessica sprawled on the ground, her hair hiding part of her face.

"I am so sorry! I was about to jump when Leo shoved me out." Jessica said. I grunted in annoyance then shot Cleopatra a filthy look but she just smiled at me. I shoved myself to my feet and dusted myself off.

"Whatever." I muttered.

"I really am s-" Jessica started to apologize but I cut her off.

"Stop with the damn apologizin and stay the hell away from me." I snapped. After I snapped at her, my brain finally caught up to me and I realized what I had said. I opened my mouth to say something else but Jessica shook her head, getting to her feet.

"You want me to stay the hell away from ya? Fine. Ya got yer wish Dixon." Jessica snapped.

"Jess..." I started. Jessica rolled her eyes and flipped me off, walking towards the circle and away from me.

"Smooth...real smooth li'l D." Merle drawled. I turned my attention to my older brother and shot him a glare.

"Ah shut it Merle. I wouldn't have snapped at her if yer woman hadn't shoved Jess out of the truck and onto my damn back!" I snapped. Merle glanced at Cleopatra and slid his arm around her waist.

"Yeah, my woman shoved Jess out of the truck but yer the moron that snapped at 'er." Merle said.

"Ya do realize that after you sayin what ya said that Jess ain't gonna come anywhere near ya in the future unless somethin happens." Cleopatra said.

"I know, I know...I ain't stupid." I grumbled.

"Ya sure about that li'l brotha?" Merle asked. I shot him a dirty look and started to go find Jessica to talk to her but Cleopatra stopped me.

"Ya go talk to her now and she'll be throwin anythin she can get her hands on at ya. Lemme go talk to her and see if I can do some damage control." Cleopatra said.

"Alright." I muttered.

"Be careful though Leo, cuz she just might be pissed at you as well and could throw somethin at you too." Merle said.

"Yeah, I know Merle. I knew her 'fore I knew you two. I know how she works and I know how her temper can get." Cleopatra said. Cleopatra nodded her head then planted a kiss on Merle before turning and headed to go talk to Jessica.

"Don't worry li'l brotha. She'll have Jess talkin to ya and you'll be able to get laid." Merle said. I shot my brother a look then headed for our tent to clean my crossbow and bolts.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter 8! Merle and Leo are FINALLY together but Leo has Jessica and Daryl fighting. Will Cleopatra be able to fix what she broke or will the pair continue to bicker and ignore one another?**


	9. Tree Climbing & Confrontations

**Here's chapter 9! This one gets kinda interesting and it's completely in Jessica's POV :D**

* * *

***Jessica's POV***

I paced back and forth, swearing under my breath and cursing Cleopatra for shoving me out of the truck and onto Daryl.

"Um...Jessica?" a small voice said. I stopped my pacing and turned around to see Sophia Peletier standing behind me.

"Yeah sweetheart?" I asked with a small smile.

"Can, um...can you help us get somethin out of a tree?" Sophia asked.

"Sure darlin. Was it that frisbee I had in my bag and gave to y'all to play with?" I asked. Sophia nodded her head so I motioned for her to lead the way. As Sophia was leading me towards where they got the frisbee stuck in a tree, I saw Cleopatra and Merle approaching while Daryl was headed off towards his and Merle's camp area.

"It's way up there." Sophia said, pointing up into a tree. I tilted my head back and saw that it was a good ways up in the tree.

"Wow...how'd it get up there li'l bit?" I asked, turning my attention back to Sophia.

"T-Dog was playin catch with us and it went way over our heads and got stuck in the tree." Sophia said. I nodded my head then pursed my lips in thought, eyeing the tree to assess the best way to get up it.

"Jess, I need to talk to ya." Cleopatra said once she and Merle were close by. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that they were barely a foot away.

"Not now. I gotta do somethin." I said. Cleopatra opened her mouth to say something but whatever she was going to say was about to fall on deaf ears. I started for the tree then jumped up, grabbing the lowest hanging limb then quickly hoisted myself into the tree then I started to scale the tree with ease.

"Damn. She looks like a damn squirrel goin up that tree like that!" I heard T-Dog comment. I chuckled slightly then paused on the branch with the frisbee then grabbed it and tossed it back down to Sophia.

"Thank you!" Sophia called, picking up the frisbee and smiling up at me.

"No problem sweetheart!" I said loudly. Sophia smiled then ran off with the frisbee, calling to Carl, Eliza, and Louis to let them know she got the frisbee back with my help. I chuckled a bit then jumped down from the tree and rolled when I hit the ground. I stood up and dusted myself off then pushed my hair from my face.

"We need to talk Jessie." Cleopatra said. I turned towards her then crossed my arms over my chest, my hip cocked slightly.

"Talk away Leo." I said. Cleopatra let out an agitated sigh then ran a hand through her hair, giving me an annoyed look.

"Jess, look there's no need for you and Daryl to be at each other's throats." Cleopatra said after a few minutes. I snorted at her comment then opened my mouth to give her a smartass comment but stopped when the kids approached me.

"Yeah, kids?" I asked. The kids looked at one another then looked over their shoulders at Lori, wanting her to be the one to talk to me.

"Well, we all noticed how quickly you got up that tree and were wondering if you could teach the kids to climb trees if somethin ever happens and they wander away from us at some point." Lori explained. I thought about it for a second then nodded my head in agreement and gave Lori a small smile.

"Yeah, I can teach 'em how to climb up trees to get outta harm's way if it's ever needed." I said.

"Thank you so much. Means a lot." Carol said softly.

"She ain't teachin my girl to climb no tree like a heathen." Ed groused. I turned around to face him and placed my hands on my hips, shooting him a filthy look.

"Now listen here ya fat ass son of a bitch. I ain't no damn heathen. All I'm gonna do is teach the kids how to climb trees to get away from walkers if they ever need to. Ain't like I'm teachin 'em to swing from vines and holler like Tarzan. So why don't you just go do somethin productive instead of bein a useless dick." I snapped. After my outburst, the other members of the group were quiet so I decided to glance around. Jim was looking at me like I lost my mind; Jacqui turned away from the scene to do something else; Merle looked impressed; Cleopatra looked like she didn't know whether to congratulate me or call me stupid; the kids were shocked; Lori was stunned; Morales and Miranda were hiding amused smirks; Shane looked agitated; Dale was giving me a stern 'fatherly' gaze; Glenn looked startled; Amy and Andrea were gobsmacked; Rick looked stunned and Carol looked afraid.

"What did you say bitch?" Ed growled. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at his question.

"I didn't stutter!" I sniped. Ed stormed over to me but I didn't shy away from the fact that he's about two times my size; I stood my ground.

"You need to watch your mouth you sawed off little bitch. Ya don't wanna keep proddin the bull." Ed snapped.

"Lemme guess...you're supposed to be the bull I don't wanna keep proddin?" I said, eyebrow raised.

"You're damn right you scrawny little bitch." Ed sneered. I chuckled humorlessly and rolled my eyes at him.

"You'd better back the hell off Ed before ya find out why my nickname is Wildcat." I said.

"Or what? Huh? What the hell are you gonna do bitch? Huh?!" Ed sneered, leaning down a bit and getting in my face. I stared blankly at him and his breath was hitting me in the face as he huffed and puffed in agitation.

"Dude...it's called a breath mint or a tic tac! Damn!" I said, waving my hand in front of my face and taking a step back. After my comment, Merle started howling with laughter and I noticed that the others; with the exception of poor Carol and asshole Shane, were fighting off smiles while the kids looked a bit confused.

"Excuse me?" Ed snapped.

"Oh you're excused! You can either relieve yourself out in the woods or in Dale's RV." I said without missing a beat. Merle started laughing harder and soon, Cleopatra joined in with his laughter and caused a few others to laugh as well. Carol shot her a warning look then gasped when Ed's hand shot out in a fist and it connected with the side of my face. I stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, dazed. Ed charged towards me but he was cut off by Merle and Cleopatra standing in his way.

"Move out of my way!" Ed roared.

"Oh hell naw. You hit someone we've known for years. Ain't no way in hell I'm gettin outta your way so you can slap her 'round like some kinda rag doll." Cleopatra sneered, leveling Ed with a fierce glare.

_'Well...if looks could kill, Ed would be deader than a coffin nail and we'd have to kill his ass all over again so he wouldn't rise.' _I thought. I lightly trailed my fingertips along the left side of my jaw and winced painfully at the light touch.

"Y'alright there Wildcat?" Merle asked, turning his attention towards me.

"The left side of my jaw is gonna be a lovely shade of violet in the mornin." I muttered sarcastically. Merle chuckled slightly then hauled me to my feet then ruffled my hair out of habit which made me slap his hand away.

"C'mon Wildcat. Let's go sit you down in the shade and see what we can do for that jaw of yours." Merle drawled, tugging the sleeve of my shirt. I rolled my eyes but followed behind Merle nonetheless but stopped when I heard the sound of skin connecting with skin. I quickly turned around and saw that Cleopatra had decked Ed under his chin, sending the large man stumbling backwards.

"That's what ya get for fuckin with my best friend." Cleopatra said.

* * *

**That's the end of chapter 9! The attack on the camp will happen in the next chapter so stay tuned!**


	10. A Talk & An Attack

**Finally in the double digits for ****_Welcome to the Jungle_****. In this chapter it's part of the attack on the camp but it's gonna be in daylight instead of at night and after the Atlanta search & rescue. Read on to find out what happens!**

* * *

***Cleopatra's POV***

I turned around and walked past Jessica, not saying a word to her and walked along in front of Merle.

"Nice ass ya got there, baby." Merle drawled. I rolled my eyes at his comment then nudged Daryl's foot with mine when I got close enough.

"What?" Daryl asked, glancing up.

"You got a clean rag or somethin?" I asked.

"Why?" Daryl questioned. I turned slightly and motioned for Jessica to walk forward and once she was in Daryl's line of sight, out the corner of my eye I noticed that his jaw tensed when he saw the spot that was beginning to form on Jessica's jaw from where Ed punched her.

"That's why I asked, D." I said.

"Who the hell hit her?" Daryl growled.

"Look, don't worry about it Daryl." Jessica muttered. Daryl looked up and shot Jessica a dirty look and I knew he was still agitated with her.

"I ain't worried for yer sake! I'mma let the bastard know that it ain't right to lay a hand on a woman." Daryl said. To anyone who didn't know Jessica that well, it would just look like she had a blank expression on her face but since I know her better than anyone else, I saw a brief flash of hurt in her eyes at Daryl's words.

"Take a seat Jessie Mac. I'll figure somethin out for yer jaw to bring down the swellin." Merle commented. Jessica nodded at Merle then sat away from Daryl, bringing one knee up and resting her right arm on it then she rested her good cheek on her arm. Merle walked towards the RV to go talk to Dale so I followed along behind him to make sure he wouldn't cause any kind of trouble.

***Jessica's POV***

Cleopatra and Merle walked towards the RV, leaving me alone with Daryl. I decided to swallow my pride and try to apologize to him but with the way he was acting, I don't think he'd listen to me. My eyes trailed to Daryl and I noticed that he was working on cleaning his crossbow.

"Um...Daryl?" I said. Daryl grunted and kept cleaning his cross bow, never once lifting his head to look at me. I let out a sigh then sat down on the ground beside him and lightly nudged his leg. Daryl's head snapped up and he shot me an agitated look, his lip curled back slightly.

"What the hell do ya want? Can't ya see I'm busy?" Daryl snapped.

"Oh..." I said lowly. Daryl snorted then went back to cleaning his crossbow so I stood up and dusted myself off then turned and started walking away from the Dixon brothers camp area. I walked over to my old truck and hopped up on the tailgate since I never put it back up and stared at the ground. I sighed heavily then started to softly sing the first song that came to mind; _Dear Agony_ by Breaking Benjamin.

**"I have nothing left to give,**  
**I have found the perfect end;**  
**You remain to make it hurt,**  
**Disappear into the dirt;**  
**Carry me to heaven's arms,Light the way and let me go;**  
**Take the time to take my breath,**  
**I will end where I began... **

**And I will find the enemy within;**  
**'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin..."**

***Sophia's POV***

I stopped in my tracks when I heard Jessica singing and she sounded really sad as she sang. I frowned a bit then started walking over to her truck where she was sitting. Her head snapped up and she looked at me, pausing with what ever she was singing. I stopped in front of her and chewed on my bottom lip.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She swiped her tongue across her lips to moisten them then ran a hand through her hair before sighing.

"I'll be alright, sugar." Jessica sighed. I wrinkled my nose and tilted my head to the side.

"You sure? You look really sad." I said. She sighed again then ran a hand down her face, flinching when she touched the bruise on the side of her jaw.

"I'll be okay sweetheart." Jessica sighed."Can I sit beside you?" I asked. Jessica thought about it for a moment then nodded her head then helped me up onto the tailgate of her truck. I started swinging my legs back and forth and saw Jessica smile a bit out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey, skedaddle kiddo." Merle said as he approached with Cleopatra. I started to get down but Jessica laid a hand on my shoulder.

"She can stay." Jessica said. Merle shrugged his shoulders then placed a bandana to her jaw and she flinched a bit.

"It's got an ice pack in it." Merle said. Jessica nodded in thanks then reached out and toyed with my hair a bit.

"Will you come with me to the lake?" I asked.

"Sure thing doll." Jessica said. She jumped down off the tailgate of her truck then helped me down and we started walking towards the lake.

***Jessica's POV***

Sophia walked along beside me as we headed towards the lake and we were soon joined by Amy and Carl.

"So, how long have you and Leo known the Dixon brothers?" Amy questioned. I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand, thinking.

"For about...twelve years or so...give or take." I said, shrugging a bit.

"Jessica? Do you like Daryl?" Sophia questioned. I glanced at the twelve year old girl from the corner of my eye and fought off a blush.

"Call me Jess or Jessie and why do ya ask that honey?" I said.

"Well, you look at him how Rick looks at Lori." Sophia said. Carl nodded his head in agreement and I chuckled slightly.

"They're right! I've noticed it and you said you've known him for a while." Amy commented. I rubbed my bottom lip with my middle finger as I thought, making Sophia giggle a bit.

"What?" I said.

"Daryl does that!" Sophia grinned. I chuckled a bit but said nothing when we exited the woods and reached the lake. Carl and Sophia ran off the play at the lake's edge so Amy and I sat on the rocks to keep an eye on them and make sure no walkers were around.

"I noticed that Merle and Leo are finally together." Amy commented. I smirked at her observation and nodded my head in agreement.

"Yeah, they are. After I don't know how many years of dodgin around each other." I said. Before Amy could comment, a scream pierced through the air which made me leap from my spot on the rocks, throwing the bandana and ice pack to the side and ran to go save Carl and Sophia. I threw my knife into the skull of one of the walkers, taking him down instantly. I gave Carl and Sophia a light shove towards the trees then turned and ran behind them.

"Move it Amy! Get up a tree!" I called. Amy stood frozen and Carl and Sophia stood near a tree, waiting for help. I pulled on Amy's shirt sleeve but she never moved so I ran and gave Carl a boost into the tree then returned the favor for Sophia and let Carl pull her up. I ran back to Amy and yanked her by her shirt, leading her to the tree.

"I can't climb it!" Amy cried.

"Hell yes you can!" I said, pushing her towards it. I started scaling up it and was soon by Carl and Sophia. I shifted around on the branch when Amy started climbing it then offered her my hand for assistance. She grabbed my hand and just when I started to pull her up farther into a tree, a walker bit into her shoulder and she screamed in pain then was ripped from my grip when another walker bit into her arm.

"No!" I shouted. I shifted back up into the tree and stayed by Carl and Sophia who were both crying. Hearing rushed footsteps, I glanced around then I saw a bolt stick into the eye of a walker and it went down and I knew Daryl was part of the calvary. Daryl emerged from the woods with Merle, Cleopatra, Rick, Shane, Glenn and some of the others following along.

"Sophia! My baby!" Carol cried out when the walkers were taken care of.

"Carl!" Lori called. I let out a sharp whistle to get their attention and everyone glanced around.

"They're both fine! They're up here with me." I said. Carol and Lori glanced up and cried out in relief when they saw that Carl and Sophia were in the tree beside me. I helped them down slowly then once they were close enough to the ground, the two dropped down and ran to their mothers. I jumped down from the tree and dusted myself off then was ambushed in a double hug from Lori and Carol.

"Thank you so much!" Lori said.

"Sophia said you gave them both a boost to get into the tree quickly." Carol said. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by Andrea's wail of grief.

"Amy! No!" Andrea cried out. She rushed over to her sister's body and dropped onto her knees beside her and began sobbing. I swallowed thickly and ruffled my hair then heaved a heavy sigh.

"C'mon...let's get rid of these bodies then head back to camp." Rick said. Everyone started moving around at Rick's suggestion then Andrea shoved herself to her feet and she came stomping towards me.

"You hick bitch!" Andrea screamed out, slapping me across the face. My head turned to the right with the force of her slap and everything around us was quiet.

"Aye! You ain't got any right in slappin her Andrea." Cleopatra said.

"My sister is dead because of this backwoods tramp!" Andrea screamed, moving to slap me again. Before her hand could connect with my face, I grasped her wrist in my right hand then twisted her arm around and lightly pulled it down.

"Don't ya even start that fuckin bullshit blondie. I tried ta help her into the fuckin tree and told 'er 'fore she got bitten to get her ass into a tree but she just stood there like a knot on a log. When I finally got her to a tree, I got into the damn thing and started helping her up farther as she climbed it but those dead bastards got a hold of her. Don't you dare tell me that it's my fault she's dead. I tried to help her! Where the fuck were you?" I snapped.

* * *

**Andrea pushed the wrong button! Find out what happens in the next chapter!**


	11. An Attack & A Decision

**Here's ch. 11 of Welcome to the Jungle!**

* * *

***Cleopatra's POV***

Everyone was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop and the tension between Andrea and Jessica was so thick that I could cut it with my hunting knife.

"C'mon...let's get started here and head back to camp." Rick said. Andrea shot Jessica one final dirty look then walked over to Amy's body and dropped onto her knees beside her. Jessica noticed the stares from everyone so she turned around and headed back for camp, muttering under her breath.

"She's not a bad person. She saved Carl and Sophia." Lori said, casting a glance at Andrea.

"We know she isn't. Head back to camp Lori, we've got it covered here." Rick said. Lori nodded her head then ushered Carl ahead of her, heading back with Carol and Sophia following behind them.

"Get back up to camp girly. We got this covered." Merle drawled. I gave Merle a suspicious look then turned around and headed back to the camp.

***Jessica's POV***

I muttered to myself as I paced around the camp, occasionally glancing towards the woods when I heard a rustling noise. I glanced towards Carol, Ed and Sophia's tent when I heard the zipper and Ed emerged from the tent and gazed around then his eyes landed on me. Ed scoffed in disgust when he saw me and started towards me but he was suddenly attacked by a walker from the bushes.

"Oh holy fuck!" I said, stumbling backwards. The walker looked up from chewing on Ed then snarled at me. I pulled my .45 from the waistband of my pants, took aim at the Walker's head then squeezed the trigger. The walker's head snapped backwards then it crumpled to the ground in a heap. I heaved out a sigh then spun around to face the woods when I heard a twig snap. I slowly walked forward with my pistol raised then lowered it when Cleopatra came into view.

"Do ya know how close ya came to gettin shot?" I asked. Cleopatra rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to make a smartass comment then her gaze landed on the body of Ed.

"Walker got him?" Cleopatra asked.

"Yeah, a walker got him." I replied.

"I heard a gunshot! What happened?" Rick asked, coming out of the woods. I pointed at Ed so Rick followed to where I was pointing and saw Ed and the walker I shot.

"We need to take care of this..." Rick sighed.

"I'll tell Carol." I offered. Rick nodded his head so I headed back towards the lake to go tell Carol the news. I got halfway there and was met by Carol and little Sophia.

"Are you okay, Jess?" Carol asked.

"I'm okay, but..." I started.

"But what? What happened?" Carol asked.

"It's...Ed. A walker got him as he was comin out of y'alls tent." I said hesitantly. Carol gasped in shock then led Sophia back to camp to see if my statement was true.

***Hours later***

I sat on the tailgate of my truck and watched as Carol bashed Ed's skull in with the pickaxe that Daryl handed her.

"She's a li'l too late in dealin with that bastard if ya ask me." Cleopatra drawled. I glanced at Cleopatra then shrugged my shoulders.

"She's gettin all her anger and frustration out if ya ask me. From what prolly everybody noticed, he put her through a lot of hell." I said.

"Not only her, but I noticed that Sophia seemed a li'l wary around him. Like he's put his hands on her in a way that no man should ever put his hands on his child." Cleopatra said. I nodded my head, agreeing with her statement then watched as Daryl led Carol away from Ed's body.

"She's finally gettin her revenge." I said. Cleopatra shifted beside me and I could feel her staring at the side of my face so I turned my head.

"Y'alright Jessie? You were quiet for a bit before ya answered me." Cleopatra said.

"Yeah, I'm alright Leo, I promise." I said. Cleopatra eyed me suspiciously and I knew she wasn't buying what I said but I also knew that she wasn't the type of person to keep prying and pestering me to get what she wanted out of me; she knows I'll talk about it when I want to talk about it. After the body of Ed was buried, a gunshot rang out and I knew that Andrea had finally shot Amy.

"Jim's bit! A walker got Jim!" Jacqui exclaimed. We all rushed over to where Jim was standing and he was holding a shovel in his hands, prepared to hit any of us if we got too close.

"I'm okay...I'm okay..." Jim said, trying to convince us.

"Show it to us, Jim." Shane said, stepping forward. Jim took a swing at Shane with the shovel and I watched as T-Dog snuck up behind him then held his arms behind his head. Daryl walked forward, grabbed the hem of Jim's shirt then pulled it up, revealing the bite mark on Jim's side.

"Aye, Jessie Mac! I need to talk to ya." Merle called. I glanced at the older Dixon brother then walked over to him and followed him as he led me away from the group and I could hear them discussing what to do about Jim.

"So...what did ya need to talk to me about, Merle?" I asked.

"How long ya gonna stay mad at my li'l brotha?" Merle asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I sighed then pushed my hair out of my face then mimicked Merle's stance.

"I tried talkin to him Merle...he copped a damn attitude with me." I said. Merle rolled his eyes then glanced at Daryl then turned his attention back to me.

"I'll go smack some sense into him if ya want me to." Merle offered. I scoffed then shook my head at his offer.

"Nah, don't smack him one. I'll try talkin to him again and if that don't work out, I'll pop the hell outta him." I said. Merle snorted then smirked, knowing I would follow through with my statement.

"Here he comes. Looks like he's got a bolt up his ass 'bout somethin." Merle drawled. I glanced over my shoulder and saw what Merle was talking about; Daryl looked pissed off beyond all belief.

"Think I need to try to do some damage control, Merle?" I asked.

"Naw, I'll handle my baby brotha. When Leo gets over here if I ain't back with Daryl, ask her what Rick and Shane were discussin. See if it was about movin from here to somewhere else." Merle said.

"Gotcha." I mumbled. Merle bobbed his head once then turned around and headed to go talk to Daryl. I ruffled my hair then started pacing back and forth then stopped when I heard approaching footsteps. I looked up and saw Cleopatra standing in front of me with her lower lip between her teeth.

"You okay, Jessie? I mean...Andrea had no right to say what she said about you." Cleopatra said.

"I'm okay, Leo. I promise," I said, "what were Shane and Rick discussing?" Cleopatra rubbed at her nose then scratched the back of her neck before answering.

"They were arguin over where to go. Shane wants to go to Fort Benig while Rick wants to go to the CDC to see if they have a cure so we can help Jim." Cleopatra said. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Nothin against Shane, but...I don't think it's worth goin to Fort Benig. I think it'll be overrun by now. But I'm not so sure that the CDC will be up and runnin either." I said.


	12. Brotherly Fights & Staking Claims

**Here's chapter 12 of Welcome to the Jungle!**

**I don't own the Walking Dead. That belongs to Robert Kirkman. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

***No one's POV***

Daryl leaned against his truck, shooting Rick the occasional glare then would turn his gaze to Jessica then he'd look away and stare at the ground. Merle strolled over to his younger brother then stopped in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Now Darylina, what's this I hear bout you gettin an attitude wit Jessie when she tried talkin to ya?" Merle asked. Daryl turned his attention to his brother, scowling at his question.

"Why the hell is it any of your concern, Merle?" Daryl growled.

"Why the fuck wouldn't it, li'l baby brotha?" Merle drawled. Daryl narrowed his eyes and the two brothers glared at one another until Merle lunged and tackled Daryl to the ground and they started wrestling around.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shane exclaimed, about to run over to stop them. Cleopatra held her arm out in front of Shane and shook her head.

"Trust me officer, they'll quit in a li'l while. If they don't? Jess and I will handle 'em." Cleopatra said. Shane shot Cleopatra a look then took a step back, eyeing the brothers as if they were completely insane.

***Cleopatra's POV***

After a minute, Shane wandered off; probably to try to talk to Lori, and Jessica took his place.

"Who do ya think's gonna win?" Jessica asked. I snorted at her question, looking at her from the corner of my eye.

"Did ya really ask that? Merle's the one that normally wins." I replied. Jessica grunted in response then crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to her right foot, her left hip cocked out. To those who don't know her, Jessica seems either bored or relaxed or waiting for something to be over with but I could tell by how her shoulders were tensed that she was waiting to see what would be the outcome of the fight and whether or not Daryl would talk to her or give her the cold shoulder.

"Jessie?" I said. Jessica turned her head and our eyes locked.

"Yeah Leo?" Jessica said. I from the corner of my eye, I noticed that Daryl and Merle were still wrestling around so I turned around fully to face Jessica so she did the same.

"If he still won't talk to ya, give him some space alright? You know how he can get." I said. Jessica stared at me for a moment then nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know Leo. I know." Jessica murmured.

***No one's POV***

Daryl leaned against his truck, shooting Rick the occasional glare then would turn his gaze to Jessica then he'd look away and stare at the ground. Merle strolled over to his younger brother then stopped in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Now Darylina, what's this I hear bout you gettin an attitude wit Jessie when she tried talkin to ya?" Merle asked. Daryl turned his attention to his brother, scowling at his question.

"Why the hell is it any of your concern, Merle?" Daryl growled.

"Why the fuck wouldn't it, li'l baby brotha?" Merle drawled. Daryl narrowed his eyes and the two brothers glared at one another until Merle lunged and tackled Daryl to the ground and they started wrestling around.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shane exclaimed, about to run over to stop them. Cleopatra held her arm out in front of Shane and shook her head.

"Trust me officer, they'll quit in a li'l while. If they don't? Jess and I will handle 'em." Cleopatra said. Shane shot Cleopatra a look then took a step back, eyeing the brothers as if they were completely insane.

***Cleopatra's POV***

After a minute, Shane wandered off; probably to try to talk to Lori, and Jessica took his place.

"Who do ya think's gonna win?" Jessica asked. I snorted at her question, looking at her from the corner of my eye.

"Did ya really ask that? Merle's the one that normally wins." I replied. Jessica grunted in response then crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to her right foot, her left hip cocked out. To those who don't know her, Jessica seems either bored or relaxed or waiting for something to be over with but I could tell by how her shoulders were tensed that she was waiting to see what would be the outcome of the fight and whether or not Daryl would talk to her or give her the cold shoulder.

"Jessie?" I said. Jessica turned her head and our eyes locked.

"Yeah Leo?" Jessica said. I from the corner of my eye, I noticed that Daryl and Merle were still wrestling around so I turned around fully to face Jessica so she did the same.

"If he still won't talk to ya, give him some space alright? You know how he can get." I said. Jessica stared at me for a moment then nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know Leo. I know." Jessica murmured.

***Jessica's POV***

I chewed on the inside of my lip then reached up and rubbed my index finger across my lower lip then stopped when Cleopatra cleared her throat and raised and eyebrow, knowing that was a habit I picked up from Daryl. I dropped my hand then popped my knuckles out of habit then turned my head when I heard a cough and saw Merle holding Daryl in a headlock.

"Ya gonna give up yet li'l brotha?" Merle taunted. Daryl coughed, shifting around and trying to get out of Merle's headlock.

"Hell no!" Daryl grunted. The two continued to wrestle around until Daryl elbowed Merle in the stomach and threw him off then started coughing from the headlock.

"Ya finally got the drop on me, eh baby brotha?" Merle said. Daryl glared at Merle then turned his head and spat off to the side.

"Heavy ass bastard." Daryl grumbled.

"Daryl?" I said. Daryl turned his attention to me, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as he pushed himself to his feet.

"The hell do ya want?" Daryl sniped. I rolled my eyes, used to his attitude after years of knowing him then waved my hand as if to say 'forget it'.

"Fuck it. Don't bother with it." I said.

"Can ya make up yer fuckin mind?! Do ya wanna talk to me or not!?" Daryl snapped, drawing the attention of the others.

"Fuck no! Lemme know when you're off yer damn man period cuz you're actin like a bitch!" I spat. Before he could say anything else I turned and headed back for my truck.

***Merle's POV***

I whistled lowly at Jessica's comment after she stormed off then turned to Daryl, who was lightly pink in the face and looked like he had tasted something he didn't like.

"Damn li'l D. Looks like she got the last word in, eh?" I smirked. Daryl looked at me and scowled, pissed off that he was embarrassed by a good friend in front of the group.

"Shut it Merle." Daryl grumbled.

"All she was tryna do was talk to ya after y'all had that li'l blowout when she sat beside ya to wait on me and Leo to bring back somethin for her face where that abusive dickwad, Ed decked her. Don't think we couldn't hear ya." I said. Daryl clenched his jaw for a minute then turned and walked off to go to his old truck. I rolled my eyes then turned to look at Cleopatra.

"Those two are actin like they're an old married couple." Cleopatra commented. I snorted at her way of putting it but nodded my head in agreement.

"Seems like those two stubborn asses ain't gonna be gettin together anytime soon." I said. Cleopatra looked at me with one eyebrow raised, her hands placed on her hips.

"Hell, take a look at us Merle! We spent I don't know how many years at each other's throats, annoyin the shit out of each other and all kinds of shit! We just got past our stubborn pride and decided to be what we are now." Cleopatra said. I tilted my head to the side a bit, noticing her hesitation at the end.

"Why'd ya hesitate?" I asked.

"Hell, I don't know what to classify us. Especially in this damn world." Cleopatra said.

"You're my woman. That's all there is to it." I smirked.

I chewed on the inside of my lip then reached up and rubbed my index finger across my lower lip then stopped when Cleopatra cleared her throat and raised and eyebrow, knowing that was a habit I picked up from Daryl. I dropped my hand then popped my knuckles out of habit then turned my head when I heard a cough and saw Merle holding Daryl in a headlock.

"Ya gonna give up yet li'l brotha?" Merle taunted. Daryl coughed, shifting around and trying to get out of Merle's headlock.

"Hell no!" Daryl grunted. The two continued to wrestle around until Daryl elbowed Merle in the stomach and threw him off then started coughing from the headlock.

"Ya finally got the drop on me, eh baby brotha?" Merle said. Daryl glared at Merle then turned his head and spat off to the side.

"Heavy ass bastard." Daryl grumbled.

"Daryl?" I said. Daryl turned his attention to me, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as he pushed himself to his feet.

"The hell do ya want?" Daryl sniped. I rolled my eyes, used to his attitude after years of knowing him then waved my hand as if to say 'forget it'.

"Fuck it. Don't bother with it." I said.

"Can ya make up yer fuckin mind?! Do ya wanna talk to me or not!?" Daryl snapped, drawing the attention of the others.

"Fuck no! Lemme know when you're off yer damn man period cuz you're actin like a bitch!" I spat. Before he could say anything else I turned and headed back for my truck.

***Merle's POV***

I whistled lowly at Jessica's comment after she stormed off then turned to Daryl, who was lightly pink in the face and looked like he had tasted something he didn't like.

"Damn li'l D. Looks like she got the last word in, eh?" I smirked. Daryl looked at me and scowled, pissed off that he was embarrassed by a good friend in front of the group.

"Shut it Merle." Daryl grumbled.

"All she was tryna do was talk to ya after y'all had that li'l blowout when she sat beside ya to wait on me and Leo to bring back somethin for her face where that abusive dickwad, Ed decked her. Don't think we couldn't hear ya." I said. Daryl clenched his jaw for a minute then turned and walked off to go to his old truck. I rolled my eyes then turned to look at Cleopatra.

"Those two are actin like they're an old married couple." Cleopatra commented. I snorted at her way of putting it but nodded my head in agreement.

"Seems like those two stubborn asses ain't gonna be gettin together anytime soon." I said. Cleopatra looked at me with one eyebrow raised, her hands placed on her hips.

"Hell, take a look at us Merle! We spent I don't know how many years at each other's throats, annoyin the shit out of each other and all kinds of shit! We just got past our stubborn pride and decided to be what we are now." Cleopatra said. I tilted my head to the side a bit, noticing her hesitation at the end.

"Why'd ya hesitate?" I asked.

"Hell, I don't know what to classify us. Especially in this damn world." Cleopatra said.

"You're my woman. That's all there is to it." I smirked.


	13. Leaving Jim & the CDC

**Here's chapter 13 of Welcome to the Jungle!**

**I only own my OCs!**

* * *

***No one's POV***

Once everyone was decided and they had all their belongings packed, the group headed away from the quarry. The Morales family were headed to Birmingham where they had family while the rest of the survivors headed to the CDC to see if they'd be able to help Jim. Not too long after they had headed down the road to go to the CDC, Dale's RV started to smoke so he pulled it to a stop, honking his horn to signal the others.

"What's goin on?" Rick asked, approaching Dale as he got out of his RV.

"I told you I could've used that hose from the truck!" Dale said, checking on his RV.

"I can go back and get it." Shane offered. Rick nodded so Shane took off for his jeep to head back to the quarry to take the needed hose off the old equipment truck. Rick walked around, talking to the other survivors then walked to Jessica's truck to talk to her and Cleopatra.

***Rick's POV***

I approached Jessica's Ford and was surprised to see the passenger seat empty so I figured that Cleopatra was riding with the Dixons. I tapped on the passenger side door so Jessica lifted her head from where she had leaned it on her arm hanging out then turned her head to look at me.

"Yeah, Rick?" Jessica said.

"Where's Leo?" I asked.

"Ridin wit Daryl and Merle." Jessica said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. I nodded my head and continued to talk to her then I heard Jacqui.

"It's Jim y'all. He's real bad...I don't think he's gonna make it." Jacqui called. I walked away from Jessica's truck and headed to the RV then walked inside to talk to Jim. Once I walked out of the RV, I heard Shane say that the RV was fixed so I started to discuss Jim's decision with him and Lori.

***No one's POV***

They led Jim into the woods and helped him get settled, leaning against a tree like he wanted.

"Would ya look at that? Another damn tree." Jim said with a weary chuckle. Everyone around him cracked a weary grin then started to say their goodbyes.

"Do you want this, Jim?" Rick asked, offering the bitten man his revolver. Jim shook his head and pushed Rick's hand away.

"No, you keep it...you may need it." Jim said. Rick nodded grimly then pat Jim on the shoulder then left. Once everyone got their goodbyes in, they headed back to their vehicles and headed off down the road towards the CDC.

***Jessica's POV***

We soon reached the CDC so I killed my truck engine and got out then reached behind my seat, grabbing my PSE Razorback Recurve bow and my Mossy Oak sidekick hip quiver. I strapped my holster around my waist, making sure my arrows were there then grabbed my camo Tarantula sleeve wrap arm guard and fastened it around my right arm. I pulled on my leather, fingerless gloves then grabbed my bags then shut my truck door and jogged to join the others.

"Keep quiet...almost there." Shane whispered. We soon reach the entrance and see that there are caution signs on the doors, warning people to stay away. Shane steps forward and tries to lift one, but it won't budge.

"Shit." Shane swore.

"Nothing?" Rick asked. Shane shakes his head so Rick steps forward, trying to lift one only to see that it won't budge. Shane pounds on the door and I hiss in annoyance, knowing that the noise will attract walkers.

"There's nobody here!" T-Dog says, his voice impatient.

"Then why are the shutters down?" Rick counters. I take a look at the shutters and take notice that they're the ones that close from the inside. Just who the hell would bother closing them on their way out?

"Walkers!" Daryl calls. We all spin around and see walkers shambling towards us due to Shane pounding on the doors earlier.

"Baby...come on!" Lori says, tugging at Rick's arm. Rick ignores her pleas and continues to try to get into the building. I hear the sounds of guns being cocked so I lift my bow and notch an arrow, preparing to fire and I notice those with guns hesitate to fire, not wanting to make noise and attract more walkers. Daryl steps forward and fires off a bolt at the nearest one, his bolt going straight through its eye.

"You led us to a graveyard!" Daryl yells, spinning around to face Rick.

"I made a choice!" Rick says firmly. I hear Merle scoff and I can picture him rolling his eyes without having to turn around.

"You made the wrong damn call!" Daryl barks.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Just shut up. Shut up!" Shane commands, shoving at Daryl's chest and I saw Merle step forward from the corner of my eye; the panic setting in. He turns to Rick now, just as forceful as Daryl was, "Rick, this is a dead end."

"What are we gonna do?!" Lori asks, looking distraught. I fire off my arrow at a walker getting too close for comfort then notch another one.

"Do you hear me?" Rick asks, turning his attention back to the doors.

"No blame." Shane says. I bite my tongue to keep from making a sarcastic comment and glance around.

"We have to go!" Lori said.

"She's right." Shane says, agreeing with Lori.

"We can't be here...this close to the city after dark!" Lori says.

"We can go to Fort Benning! Rick, it's our best option." Shane says, looking at his best friend.

"On what? No food? No fuel? It's a hundred miles!" Carol says and I can't help but agree with her.

"125. I checked." Glenn corrects. I hear another one of Daryl's bolts pierce the head of a walker and I hear Merle grunt as he swings the machete he had brought with him when we first arrived at the camp.

"Forget about Fort Benning! We need answers right now!" Lori says, directing the last part at Rick.

"We'll think of something." Rick says, trying to reassure her. The way he says it with uncertainty, I can tell that no one is willing to believe him.

"C'mon! Let's go." Shane says. Daryl and Merle start clearing a path so we can run through when Rick lets out a shout.

"The camera! It moved!" Rick exclaimed. We slowly shift towards the door, feeling hope rise within us.

"It's an automated device Rick. It's on gears, okay?" Shane says, trying to reason with him, "man just listen to me! Look around this place! It's dead, okay? Dead! You need to let this go Rick!"

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori shrieks.

"I know you're in there," Rick speaks, deliberately, to the camera. "I know you can hear me." The rest of the group has lost hope though.

"Please, we're desperate. Please help us, we have women and children, no food, hardly any gas left." He starts speaking faster, more frantic. Lori tries to get him to give up but he keeps going,

"We have nowhere else to go. If you don't let us in, you're killing us." The hoard is on us now. Everyone is fighting them back, trying to clear as many of them away as we can before we run.

"Please, Please help us!" Rick keeps shouting, but Shane is dragging him away. "You're killing us! You're killing us!" We all start to get ready to run but a noise stops us and the doors open and we're all blinded by a bright, white light. We all exchange looks of amazement then run into the building.

"Hello?" Rick calls out. I stand with Daryl at the rear, helping to protect the group.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar voice echos. I spin around and hold up my bow, pulling the arrow back, ready to fire if I need to and I notice that Glenn is pointing his gun in the same direction. Standing on the other side of the room is a man with disheveled blond hair in white clothes, holding a powerful looking gun.

"Anybody infected?" he asks.

"One of our group was," Rick replies, still shaken from his breakdown, "he didn't make it."

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asks, firing questions off.

"A chance." Rick breathes.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." the man responds.

"I know." Rick sighs. Silence fills the large room as the man examines the lot of us. He doesn't know if we're dangerous or not but he's outnumbered and outgunned.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." the man finally says.

"We can do that." Rick responds.


	14. Inside the CDC

**Here's chapter 14! This one's a long one so sit tight!**

* * *

***Jessica's POV***

"Grab your things." He ordered, explaining, "Once this door closes, it stays closed." Rick, Daryl, Merle and Shane ran out to get everyone's things from the cars. Once they were back inside safely, the doors were closed behind them and the man used a card on a keypad then spoke into it.

"Vi, seal the main entrance, kill the power up here." the man said. As soon as he spoke, the shutters went down and we all shifted around.

"Rick Grimes." Rick said, extending his hand to the man.

"...Dr. Edwin Jenner." the man said, grasping Rick's hand and shaking it. Rick nodded then shifted his bag on his shoulder.

"This way..." Jenner spoke, leading us towards an elevator. We walked onto the elevator and stood around in silence. Daryl slouched in the corner with Merle on his other side and Cleopatra stood in front of Merle while I stood on the other side of Merle.

"Doctors always go around packin heat like that?" Daryl asked, interrupting the silence. I watched Merle's gaze shift to the large gun that Jenner was carrying and Merle snorted.

"I thought I'd familiarize myself since there were plenty more left lying around," Jenner said looking back at him, "But you all look harmless enough...except you, I'll have to keep an eye on you." Carl grinned at the man's teasing comment. The rest of the journey was quiet then the doors opened moments later and Jenner walked out so we followed. He led us down a hallway and we all glanced around, taking in our surroundings.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked suddenly.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"A little." Carol admitted.

"Try not to think about it..." Jenner said, continuing down the hallway. We soon appeared in a large room filled with a lot of computers.

"Vi, bring up the lights in here," Jenner said. After his words, the lights came on in the room, "Welcome to zone five."

"Where's the staff? All the other doctors?" Rick questioned.

"You're looking at it." Jenner said.

"What about Vi? The person you're talking to." Lori questioned. Jenner smiled a bit then looked up.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." Jenner said.

"Hello guests. Welcome." a female computerized voice said.

"I'm all that's left. Sorry." Jenner said. He walked past us and headed back the way we came.

"If you'll follow me, we can get your blood tests done." Jenner said. We followed along behind him and one by one, we sat in a chair and he took our blood. Andrea was the last to get her blood drawn.

"Why are you taking our blood? If we were infected, we'd have the fever." Andrea said.

"I've already broken rules by letting all of you in here. I just want to be thorough." Jenner said. Andrea got up from the chair and stumbled a bit, dizzy from her blood being drawn.

"You okay?" Jenner questioned.

"She hasn't eaten in a few days. None of us have..." Jacqui said.

"Well, let's do something about that shall we?" Jenner suggested as he stood, "there's plenty of food in the cafeteria."

***No one's POV***

Jenner led the group to the cafeteria and they looked around in amazement at all of the food and the alcohol supply. The group was in high spirits and were soon eating the meal that Carol, Lori and Jacqui had prepared.

"You know, in Italy and sometimes France children have a little wine with dinner." Dale said, pouring Lori a glass.

"Well when Carl is in France or Italy, he can have some." Lori said, putting a hand over his glass.

"Aw don't be such a downer. Let the kid have some." Merle commented from his spot near Daryl, Cleopatra and Jessica. Lori looked up, shooting Merle a nasty look for his comment. Rick chuckled slightly then shifted to look at Lori.

"Let him have some." Rick smiled. Lori gave him an incredulous look then moved her hand away from the glass and agreed. Dale poured a little bit of wine in Carl's glass then handed it over to him.

"There you go son." Dale smiled. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched Carl to gauge his reaction. Carl took a sip of the wine then made a face once he swallowed it.

"Ew, yuck!" Carl said. Everyone burst into laughter at his reaction and Lori took his glass, pouring the wine into her own.

"You should stick to the soda pop bud." Shane grinned.

"Not you Glenn!" Daryl said. Glenn looked up from examining the bottle of wine and gave Daryl a confused smile.

"What?" Glenn said.

"Keep drinkin little man! We wanna see how red your face can get." Merle drawled. Everyone at the table laughed, including Glenn; clearly not expecting that from Merle. Jessica smirked then took a drink of the Southern Comfort that Merle had poured into her glass.

"I don't think we've properly thanked our host!" Rick said. Everyone toasted to Jenner, who sat quietly.

"Thank you." Rick said and Jenner nodded.

"Here, here!" Dale said.

"Booyah!" Daryl shouted, raising his bottle. Cleopatra, Merle and Jessica looked at one another then smirked.

"Booyah!" the trio said together.

"When are you gonna tell us what happened here, Doc?" Shane asked which effectively ended the laughing and smiling from the group, "all the other doctors? Where are they?"

"We're celebratin here Shane. This can wait til tomorrow." Rick said.

"Whoa, hold on here. That's why we're here isn't it? This was your move man...to find answers but instead we found him," Shane said with a short laugh, pointing at Jenner, "found one man. Why?"

"When things got bad, a lot of people left...to be with their families. And when it got worse...when the military got overrun, the rest bolted. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides...that was a bad time." Jenner said.

"But you didn't leave. Why?" Andrea said.

"I just kept working...hoping to do some good." Jenner said. The room went quiet after that.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill man." Glenn said, looking at Shane.

"I agree with the China Man." Merle said. Once everyone finished eating, Jenner showed them where they'd be staying, leading them down a hallway with rooms on either side.

"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing. You'll have to make due here. The couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage if you'd like." Jenner said. Jessica and the others looked around the place in wonder.

"There's an arcade here you kids may like but don't plug in anything that uses electricity," Jenner said looking at Carl and Sophia, "oh and if you shower go easy on the hot water. After making that statement, Jenner walked off.

"Hot water?" Glenn said in amazement.

"That's what the man said!" T-Dog grinned. The group split up and decided choosing the room they wanted to stay in; some decided to share while others roomed on their own then they headed off to shower. After showering they ventured back to the cafeteria for more.

***The next morning***

People filed into the cafeteria and several members of the group were groaning but Glenn was the worst of all. Jessica walked behind him, lightly flicking his ear then hopped up on the counter.

"Eggs! Powdered, but I do 'em good." T-Dog said, walking towards the table. Glenn held his head in his hands, groaning.

"Protein helps with the hangover." T-Dog said, placing a plate of eggs in front of Glenn.

"Remind me to never, ever drink like that again." Glenn groaned. Jessica chuckled slightly, swinging her feet back and forth.

"Here Glenn. Jenner thought we could use some." Lori said, passing Glenn a bottle of pills.

"Dad? Are you hung over? Mom said you would be." Carl questioned Rick as he sat down.

"Well, mom is right." Rick said.

"Hey." Shane said, entering the cafeteria.

"Hey, you feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked.

"No, worse." Shane said.

"What happened to you?" T-Dog asked, gesturing to his neck, "your neck." Shane glanced at T-Dog.

"Must've done it in my sleep." Shane said.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick said, finally noticing the scratches.

"Yeah, me neither." Shane said, glancing at Lori. Lori looked away from him and looked into her coffee cup.

"Good morning." Jenner said as he walked into the room and headed for the coffee machine.

"Hey Doc, I don't mean to slam you with questions..." Dale said.

"But you will anyway." Jenner said.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said hushing everyone around the table. Daryl walked into the room, followed by Merle and Cleopatra and Daryl headed for the coffee machine. Once everyone ate their breakfast, they followed Jenner to Zone 5.

"Give me playback of TS-19." Jenner said aloud typing on one of the computer keyboards, Vi repeated his command and seconds later, what looked like an MRI scan only much more advanced, with a virtual brain in the center appeared on the giant screen.

"Few people got the chance to see this, very few." Jenner told them, as they gathered around him.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner answered him seriously, "not that it matters in the end…take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced Internal View. Vi said. The image of the brain flashed with different lights and the camera zoomed into it, the group stared at the screen.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories, its everything. Somewhere in that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique. And human." Jenner said to them with a smile.

"Do you make sense? Ever?" Daryl asked.

"Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all your messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the beginning to the end." Jenner said.

"Death? This is a vigil?" Rick asked and walked towards Jenner.

"Yes…well, the playback of the vigil." Jenner said.

"This person died?" Andrea asked, "Who?"

"Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten. Infected. They volunteered to have us record the process…Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner said.

"Scanning to first event." Vi said. The image on the screen changed, the brain stem began to darken.

"What is that?" Glenn asked. Jenner turned to him.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." Jenner said. The brain faded black and the person stopped moving.

"Everything you ever were...or will be is gone." Jenner said.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia questioned.

"Yes sweetheart." Carol said quietly. Andrea turned away, sniffling.

"She lost someone recently. Her sister." Lori said.

"Vi scan to the second event." Jenner said, looking at the screen. The screen loaded up once more.

"The resurrection time varies; we had it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours… one minute…. Seven seconds.." Jenner said slowly. The playback showed red lights sparking from the brain stem.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori questioned.

"Just the brain stem. Just enough to get them up and moving." Jenner said.

"But...they aren't alive?" Rick said.

"You tell me." Jenner replied.

"It's not like before. Most of the brain is dark." Cleopatra said.

"It's lifeless…dead, there are no thinking, no judgment, no desire, and no distinction between right and wrong with these brains. Its only function is -..." Jenner started.

"To get up and go...an animalistic instinct. To move. To survive." Jessica said.

"Yes." Jenner said, "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part? That doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." On the screen was a large flash going through the brain.

"God! What was that?!" Carol gasped.

"He shot his patient in the head! Didn't you?" Andrea said, looking at Jenner. He didn't answer her; he only looked at the floor.

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." Jenner said after a moment of silence. Vi repeated his command and did just that, the screen and the computers all turned to black.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked rudely and walked towards the doctor.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal..." Jenner began but was cut off.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui supplied.

"There is that." Jenner agreed with a nod.

"There are others, right? Facilities?" Carol asked, Jenner looked at her.

"There may be…may be some people like me." Jenner said as he struggled with what to say.

"You don't know? How can you not know?!" Rick asked alarmed.

"It all went down, everything. The communications, directives…it all. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner said.

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing." Andrea said, "That's what you're really saying right?" Jenner and the others in the group were silent.

"Man...I'm gonna get shit faced drunk again." Daryl said, rubbing his face.

"I'll join ya baby brotha." Merle said.

"Uh, Dr. Jenner," Dale said, 'I know this has been taxing and I hate to ask one more question, but…that clock is counting down. What happens at zero?" Everyone looked to where Dale was pointing and saw a large clock counting down. Jenner hesitated before he spoke.

"The…basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner said and began to walk away.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." Vi said. The group looked around one another feeling uneasy.

"Shane what do you say we check out this basement?" Rick said to his partner.

"I say that's a good idea." Shane said and began to walk away with Rick.

"We'll come with you." Glenn said indicating himself and T-Dog. The others decided to go to their rooms and Daryl and Merle headed to the cafeteria for another drink.


	15. The End of the CDC

**Here's chapter 15! Another long one .**

**I only own my OCs!**

* * *

***No one's POV***

"Why's everything turnin off?" Daryl asked, the air conditioning in all the rooms off. Jenner took the bottle from him and the group followed behind him "Energy needs to be prioritized." Jenner said and took a drink.

"Uh, air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked.

"It's not up to me, zone five is shutting itself down." Jenner replied.

"Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked.

"Hey man, my brotha is talking to you! How's it shutting itself down? How can a building do that?"

"You'd be surprised" Jenner said simply. Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog appeared at the bottom of the stairs as the group walked down.

"Jenner, what's happening!" Rick demanded.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner said, glancing at the clock. The group followed Jenner, back to the room where he showed them the scan of TS-19. Everyone was confused and scared. Jenner stopped took a large drink from the bottle and handed it back to Daryl, who snatched it making some of it splash on the floor. Jenner turned his attention to Andrea.

"It was the French." Jenner said.

"What?" Andrea said.

"They were the last ones to hold out, as far as I know. They thought they were close to a solution." Jenner told them.

"What happened?" Jessica asked.

"Same thing that's happening here…there's no power grid, ran out of juice. You know…the world runs on fossil fuels, I mean. How stupid is that?" Jenner scoffed. Shane started to walk towards Jenner, angry.

"Let me tell you..." Shane began but Rick pulled him back.

"To hell with this Shane I don't even care. Lori grab our things, everybody. We're leaving, we're getting out of here now!" Rick shouted and everyone started to move. An alarm then started blaring, with red lights flashing. The group stopped.

"What's that?" Shane shouted.

"Thirty minutes to decontamination." Vi said over the alarm and the clock appeared on screen.

"What the hell is going on here doc?!" Shane growled "y'all heard Rick! Get your stuff and let's go now!" A loud metallic noise was heard and everyone looked up to see a door seal their exit. Rick stopped in front of it then turned to Jenner.

"Did you lock us in?! He just locked us in!" Glenn exclaimed. They ran back into the room and Lori grabbed Carl and pulled him close to her.

***Cleopatra's POV***

I started swearing then saw Daryl looking at Jenner, his jaw locked in irritation.

"Daryl no!" I said. Daryl ignored my comment and ran towards Jenner, darting around the computers.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl exclaimed.

"Shane!" Rick shouted, catching Daryl's temper.

"You locked us in here!" Daryl shouted. Shane ran forward and managed to grab Daryl before he could do anything. Daryl grabbed Jenner by his shirt and pulled, hoping to take him down but he only managed to pull him away from the desk a bit in the swivel chair he was sitting in. Merle shot forward and grabbed Daryl from Shane's grip, hauling his younger brother backwards.

"Jenner, you open that door now." Rick said to the doctor.

"There's no point! Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner said to him.

"Well open the damn things!" Dale said. Jenner shook his head at Dale's comment.

"That's not something I control, the computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it stays closed. You heard me say that." Jenner said. Rick looked around at the group, noticing their frightened faces.

"It's better this way…" Jenner said to Rick.

"What is?" Rick asked him and glanced up at the clock, "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Jenner turned to his computer and ignored him. Rick looked at Shane, who clenched his teeth then hit Jenner's chair.

"What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!" Shane demanded.

"Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from, Very. Nasty. Stuff!" Jenner exclaimed jumping from his chair, "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out, ever!" Everyone was stunned into silence. Daryl walked around, his eyes never leaving the doctor. Jenner sat down and fixed his coat.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure. In a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Jenner said.

"What are HITs?" Rick asked. Jenner didn't answer so Rick looked up at the ceiling, "Vi? What are HITs?"

"HITs: high impulsive fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired." Vi said and as she spoke everyone began to panic. Carol cradled Sophia close to her and cried.

"It sets the air on fire… no pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything." Jenner said slowly. Everyone stared at him. Daryl growled and threw his bottle of Southern Comfort at the steel door in frustration.

"Open the damn door!" Daryl shouted. Shane grabbed an ax that he found in the room and ran towards the door.

"Out of my way!" Shane shouted as he ran past.

"Daryl! Merle!" T-Dog said, tossing the brothers two other axes he found. Daryl and Merle caught the axes and ran towards the door to help Shane try to bust it open.

"Let us out of here...we've survived this far already." Rick said.

"You should have left well enough alone. It would have been so much easier." Jenner said.

"Easier for who?!" Lori snapped.

"You all, you know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death. Your sister," Jenner said and turned to Andrea. "What was her name?"

"Amy." she said quietly.

"Amy… you know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner said and turned to Rick.

"I don't want this!" Rick said back.

"We're not makin a fuckin dent in these damn doors!" Merle exclaimed.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner commented. Daryl ran down the steps and towards Jenner, his ax raised.

"Yeah but your head ain't!" Daryl exclaimed.

"Whoa, Daryl!" Jessica and I said, blocking his path. T-Dog came up behind him and took the ax from his hands.

"Back off!" Rick said.

"You do want this. Last night you said, you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Jenner said, standing and moving towards Rick. Rick glanced over at Lori and Carl and Lori's mouth was open.

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane asked.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick said.

"There is no hope! There never was!" Jenner said.

"There's always hope!" Rick shouted back at him, "Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere!"

"What part of everything is gone do you not understand?" Andrea said to him.

"Listen to your friend, she gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner said.

"This isn't right! You can't keep us here!" Carol sobbed.

"One tiny moment, a millisecond, no pain." Jenner said in a calm tone, trying to convince her.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol shouted at him.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate? To hold your loved ones as you die, waiting for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked.

"Aye! You're not related to any of us! You can't decide that! Just who the hell are you to say it would be more fuckin compassionate!?" Jessica sniped. Everyone turned at the sound of a gun being cocked, and Shane came running towards Jenner with his shotgun.

"Shane no!" Rick said and tried to hold him back.

"Out of my way Rick!" Shane said and continued towards Jenner. He put the barrel of the gun in the doctor's face, "You open that door or I'm going to blow your head off do you hear me?!"

"Brother, this is not the way you do this, you do it and we'll never get out of here." Rick said in Shane's ear. Shane suddenly started to scream, pushing the barrel into Jenner's cheek. Rick tried to get the gun off him, but Shane shook him off and turned the gun to the side. He began firing into the computer screens; glass and sparks started to fly everywhere. Rick wrestled with him and finally managed to get the gun from him; he knocked him to the ground and stood over him.

"Are you done now, huh? Are you done?" Rick said.

"Yeah…I guess we all are." Shane said back. Rick walked away from him and handed T-Dog the gun. Rick looked around the group, staring each of them in the eye.

"I think you're lyin." Rick said.

"What?" Jenner said.

"You're lyin about no hope. If it were true, I think you would've bolted with the rest and taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick said.

"It doesn't matter." Jenner said and turned away from him.

"It does matter, it always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" Rick asked.

"Not because I wanted to…I made a promise," Jenner said and stood up, "To her. My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" I asked.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Jenner sighed.

"But your wife didn't have a choice…you do…that's all we want." Rick said as he looked around the room, "A choice, a chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori said.

"I told you, topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner said. He walked over to one of the computers, scanned his card then pressed some numbers.

***No one's POV***

Once the doors were open, they started rushing out with the exception of Jacqui, Andrea and Jenner. Dale saw that Andrea wasn't following the group so he stayed back to try to convince her to come along. Once everyone got their backs, they rushed topside and stopped, staring at the doors. The men tried to open the doors but started to get frustrated when pushing against them didn't work.

"Fuckin hell! We're gonna be stuck here 'less we figure some way out!" Merle said. T-Dog pressed some buttons on the keypad then turned.

"Try it now!" T-Dog said.

"Nothing!" Glenn shouted back. Shane, Daryl and Merle ran towards the windows and tried to break the glass with the axes but groaned when they made nothing but scratches against the glass.

"Watch out!" T-Dog called. He ran past them and started slamming a chair against the glass to try and bust it.

"Move it T!" Jessica exclaimed, pulling her pistol from one of her bags. Shane stepped up beside her with a shotgun and the two started firing at the glass. They made marks in the glass but didn't crack it.

"Now what?" Cleopatra asked when Shane and Jessica stepped away.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked, on the verge of tears.

"Rick! I might have something that can help." Carol said searching her bag.

"Carol I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said in frustration. Carol ignored him and continued to look around in her bag.

"Your first morning in camp when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." Carol said. She held out her hand with a grenade in it. Rick stared, and then finally took it.

"Nice keep Officer Friendly!" Merle said. Rick ran over to the window, pulled the pin then dropped it and ran.

"Get down!" Rick yelled. Everyone dropped to the ground then the grenade exploded, shattering the glass. The group ran out of the CDC and saw there were walkers all on the lawn but the group continued to run. They all started firing at the walkers to clear a path then split for their vehicles. Jessica quickly got into her truck and stuck the key in the ignition and glanced around. She heard the horn of the Winnebago so she knew that Dale must have convinced Andrea to leave the CDC. Flames started appearing in the windows so Jessica immediately ducked down and hid her face in the seat of her truck. She covered her ears with her hands when the building exploded, grimacing at the sound. After several minutes, Jessica lifted up and saw that the CDC was nothing but rubble, flames and black smoke. She started up her truck then followed along behind the others; wondering where they would go now.


End file.
